Flames of Betrayal
by Faith Regas
Summary: A year after the revolution, it's time for the last games. Capitol children related to Capitol officials are sent to the games by Matt Smith, the bounty hunter. All was well, until Matt disobeyed the council, and was sent into the games himself.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Tributes

The little girl sat rocking back and forth, hugging her knees. Her mother had her arm around her shoulders. She was telling the girl that everything would be okay, it would all be okay. But it wouldn't. She was going to participate in the very last hunger games. All because her grandfather was President Snow. It wasn't fair

"I'm just twelve!, I'm just twelve!" She sobbed quietly "Please don't take me." She looked up at the man. He looked down at her tear streaked face. He felt sorry for her. It wasn't her fault she was related to Snow, but still, orders were orders.

He sighed. "I'm sorry kid, I don't wanna do this but.." He took the sleep serum from his pocket quietly, and stuck the needle into her. She started to drift off into sleep.

"What are you doing?! What have you done to my daughter?" The girl's mother screamed at him. "Madam, it's just sleep serum" He assured her. The woman screamed at him, she attempted to grab him but he held her off. Matt sighed and injected the serum into her as well. Poor woman.

He silently left the house with the girl slung across his shoulder and shut the door behind him. He gave the girl to the peacekeepers outside. He sighed once again and took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. On it was a list. He crossed out a name: Leona Snow.

She was the 21st tribute, only 3 more to go and his horrible mission would be over. He hated having to collect these kids knowing they would have to fight to the death in a gruesome battle. Matt understood it was all repentance for what the capital did to the district's kids. He should feel different, after all, Rue was his niece. He had lost her to the Hunger Games. But he knew that the new order was better than the old Capitol. He started the long walk to his apartment.

Matt sighed again. What could he do? He was no-one important. Just a bounty hunter from district Eleven. During the revolution he had acted as scout, finding pods and spying on the Capitol peacekeepers.

He finally got to the house the council were letting him stay in. He put his key in the lock, it was stuck. "No, not again!" Matt groaned. He put his back into it and pushed, he turned the key as hard as he could, it broke. "Great...just great" he muttered "Damn council houses!". Looks like he'd have to climb in through the window. He was halfway through when he felt a heavy knock on his head, he turned around and saw a girl, about 17, with messy red shoulder-length hair that looked like it had been cut with a crude knife. She was wearing a dirty winter-jacket and an old pair of jeans. The soles of her shoes were close to gone, she looked like she'd been running for days. "What are you doing?! You shouldn't break into houses like that!" the girl exclaimed, her capitol accent shrill and loud. She was stabbing her finger at his chest. Matt noticed a baseball bat in her hand, so, she had hit him. Who was this girl? She was weird, people don't usually walk up to burglars and tell them not to steal.

"I'm not a burglar! This is my house, the key got stuck."Matt protested, he then added "Who are you?" he stared at the girl. She answered

"My name is Fernelia Crane, what about you?" Her name sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't place it.

"My name is Matt, Matt Smith" Fernelia's eyes widened to the size of apples, she stumbled backwards. Matt's eyes narrowed.

"I-I should b-b-be going now, bye!" she walked backwards quickly then turned and ran. Matt suddenly recognised her name, she was on the list of tributes! She was Seneca Cranes niece! He quickly jumped from the window and ran after her, he couldn't see her anywhere, then he spotted her, she was running high speed through the crowds of the capital.

He pushed past startled civilians, and ran after her. Matt lifted his watch and pressed a hidden button "Target 22 located, running down Central Lane heading towards Section 13 send back-up ahead at Archers Highway to intercept target. Over." he spoke into the watch and continued running. Fernelia was slowing down, he might be able to catch her! They reached Archers Highway, he saw the back-up, but did she? Apparently so. She had slowed to a stop but she was still 10 feet away from Matt's back-up. She was looking frantically left and right, looking for an escape route. He wondered if he was close enough to...yes! He was. He jumped her, knocked her down to the ground and stuck leftover sleep serum into her. "Sleep tight" Matt whispered into her ear.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Hunter**

It had been 3 days since Matt Smith had dropped Fernelia Crane off at the Tribute building. He hated doing that..mostly because Fernelia had woken up by the time they had reached the building and was screaming obscenities at him.

Now he was sitting on the sofa going over his list, he had already tracked down and submitted 22 kids. There were only 2 to go. Jupiter and Mars Flickerman, Caesar Flickerman's grand-children. They were identical twins at the age of 16, with close cut gold hair and blue eyes. Twins were rare here, they shouldn't be too hard to find.

Matt was a nineteen year old guy with shoulder-length black hair and green eyes. Unlike most people from district 11 he had very fair skin, so he always stuck out in a crowd. Matt sighed and sat back on the couch, he switched on the T.V. The news anchor woman was talking about some 2 kids shoplifting, boring stuff really. A picture appeared on the screen, it was the same picture he had seen a few seconds ago. Not now! Just as he was about have some rest... He promptly got off the couch quickly grabbed his coat and cell phone and quickly exited the house. He speed dialled Josiah his "co-worker" and started running. Without waiting for a hello Josiah said

"Seen the news?" "Yup, I'm on it. Address?" Matt asked.

"The shop is on 45th Chrysler street. I've got choppers searching the area." Josiah informed him.

"Thanks but, that's unnecessary" Matt said with a smirk.

"Don't be so full of yourself kid, it'll kill you one day" Josiah sharply remarked.

"You'd like that wouldn't you Josie?" Matt teased and hung up the call. He loved messing about with Josiah, the grumpy old man didn't like him much. Maybe it was because Matt stole his reputation as top hunter. Or maybe it was because he was just generally nasty. Most likely the latter. He reached the location, the place was crammed with peacekeepers and the sky full of choppers. Matt took a bold step forward and shouted "Everybody step back! The hunter is on the case!" This caused some applause before everyone scattered. He had been a hero in the rebellion. He tracked down all the pods, and the locations of enemy forces. He wasn't as big a hero as Katniss Everdeen but without him, the majority of their soldiers would have died in battle.

Matt started looking around, assessing the situation. They had opened the door with a crowbar. Most of what they had taken was food and clothes, a couple of shoes were also taken. There had been one guard in the building. He was still knocked out, How hard had they hit him? Pretty hard. The floor was caked with dirt from their shoes. Outside the building there was a mass of boot prints. He thought that maybe, he could match prints, but no. He doubted they would've kept the same shoes. They were probably wearing the recently stolen trainers. It had been about half an hour since they escaped. By now, with the extra weight, they were probably within a 3 mile radius. He took up his cell dialled Josiah's number. "Send the choppers over Alcove avenue, Gerty highway and Ritero road, also send men down to search for hiding places." He ordered and disconnected the call. After only 7 months in the Capitol, he knew the place like the back of his hand. Matt borrowed a peacekeepers motorbike, and hit the road, ready for a chase. The first place he went to was Gerty Highway, which, was pretty empty. There didn't seem to be any hiding places. He searched the area for any clues. He entered all the shops and checked them too. Nope. Nothing. Nada. Nix.

He called Josiah, told him to cancel the search on Gerty Highway, and disconnected the call. He then tried his luck in Alcove Avenue. It was packed. The perfect place for them to hide. They had most likely split up. If they were spotted together it would draw unwanted attention. He looked for hovering gold heads. He spotted nothing. He soon realised why. He sighed in realisation. When he told Josiah to send in peacekeepers, he had meant stealthily. Their white uniforms were blindingly obvious. The twins probably noticed them and ran for it. Wait. If someone had started running away, there would have been a disturbance in the crowd. They must have run into a shop. He spotted a barber shop. he had to hand it to them, they were smart kids... Just the place to change your appearance when you don't want to be spotted. He sighed. He considered telling everyone he lost them. That they probably left the capitol. He had already sentenced 22 kids to death. The Hunter then did what the Hunter had to do. He gave up on his prey.


	3. Chapter 3

Matt stood by the door. He was thinking about whether to go in or not. He grabbed the handle, gathered his wits and opened the door. The room was empty, except for the peirce woman sitting at the end of a ong mahogany table.

"President Paylor! How nice to see you," he exclaimed, flushing a fake smile at her. "Where are the rest of your council?" he asked, with a hint of mockery.

"On business." Paylor replied, rather coldly. "So, why have I been summoned to the council?" Matt curiously asked. "Two weeks ago, you told us that a certain pair of twins had left Panem," Paylor accused. "So I did, and they had," Matt told her. Then a noisy squeak came from the door.

Josiah came in to the room followed by two identical golden haired, scruffy boys. Matt's face paled, but he quickly regained himself. "OH, well look at that, you found them!" Matt exclaimed.

"That we did, in the Capitol, hiding out in a barber shop." Josiah told him gruffly. Josiah was the perfect image of a grubby man. A slopping ciggarette was always hanging from the side of his mouth. He wore a stained, un-washed tank top that accentuated his pot belly. He also had dirty, no-more blond hair hanging over his eyes.

"God help his wife," Matt thought. Matt stared at Jeremia for while, taking all of this in. "Oh, well then, it seems I made a mistake." Matt smiled. "Can I leave now? I have some food in-"

"Do you know the punishment for deceipt and treachery?" Paylor interrupted. "Execution," Matt mumbled, like an accused schoolboy.

"That it is, however, we are a tribute short." Paylor informed him. Matt thought about it, he wondered how it was possible, they had captured all the twenty-four people that they needed.

The council decided that it would be too barbaric to let the twins fight one another, so one of them will be... reaped." Paylor said. Matt decided to drop the act.

"It's barbaric enough to hold these games; trust me, this is a mistake; if you let these games continue, then it will be the fall of Panem, once again." Matt argued.

"That is none of your concern, the decision has already been made." Paylor calmly retorted.

"I'm not even from the Capitol, and I'm overage." Matt pleaded desperately. Paylor sighed, got up from her seat and paced around the room.

"You think age means anything? That's not the problem here boy. You've never known who your father was, have you?" she asked. " His name... was Alfred Snow."

"I'm sorry, who?" Matt asked, He was confused, he had never heard of this 'Alfred'. besides, he was from district Eleven, it wasn't possible, probably some plot or other, designed by the council.

"Cornelius Snow had a son, a son he wanted as a successor, that boy was Alfred Snow, he was kept secret to the capitol, as he was not a...legitimate child, Alfred was raised to be as heartless as Snow himself, in Alfred's twenties, he felt that he didn't want to be president and that his father's views were barbaric, so he ran away. He lived in District Eleven, for a while. he met your mother and they married and had you. 2 years later your mother woke up and he was gone, just like that. He had returned to the capitol, to his father. He lived there for a long time, then 14 years ago, he married again, to a Lily Morsen, 2 years later, they had a daughter, Leona Snow. During the revolution your father took the last hovercraft and flew away, leaving his family behind. We don't know where he is now, but presumably far far away."

Matt was speechless, Paylor had delivered all this news to him in such a way, that it was all just facts.

"I'm sorry Matt." Paylor told him. "I really am."


	4. Chapter 4

My dad. Alfred Snow. The man who ran away from Panem on one of his jets, just so that he could avoid being sent into the Games. How dare he. How dare he leave behind his wife and son, with no money, no provisions, no one to rely on. I, Matt Smith, am related to a disgrace! All this time I thought he died in the Games, because my sickly mother could tell me nothing else, but no! He was in another country, enjoying life, while the people he used to love suffered.

This was all that Matt could think as the Peacekeepers silently ushered him to the big stage on which he was to pose as the twenty-fourth tribute to the Hunger Games that year. As soon as Paylor told him he was to go into the Games, Peacekeepers ran in to grab him as he helplessly tried to fight back. They dragged him to a cellar, where he was to stay in before the public 'reaping'. And on Matt's mind was his father, and his betrayal. Then, at times, he would worry about the Games. How would he, this skinny nineteen year old, win the Hunger Games, and then live a life of luxury. How would he battle against the kids who he himself had captured and sent to Peacekeepers. And then he was stood in line for the reaping, and his name was called out.

"Matt Smith." said a very bizarre looking woman out of a microphone. Sighing, Matt considered running, but the Peacekeepers were all around him in seconds. He was trapped, and all he could do was go with it. The Peacekeepers grabbed his hands and guided him to the stage. He stood up on it and gazed into the crowd. Whispers of his name were heard everywhere, and Matt couldn't feel more guilty. Then, a man, who looked quite familiar yelled his name.

"That's the guy who sent our kids into the games!" he shouted over the crowd. Then, as realization hit the people, angry yells and cries were shot at Matt. It was complete chaos, because the citizens of the Capitol tried jerking the Peacekeepers away to get to the stage. They were tripping over themselves and others, throwing things here and there, not caring about the consequences.

Matt was terrified. Why were all these people after him? What had he done that was so wrong? Then he saw these faces, familiar ones, and he knew that the faces were those of the parents to whom the tributes belonged. They were angry at him for sending their children into the Games. Why? It wasn't his fault that they were in the Games. He had nothing to with it at all.

But then he realized, that it was his fault. It was he who had forced the children into coming with him, and handcuffing them so that their wrists hurt. It was Matt who had done his job well, a little too well. And now, he was in the Games; he was to suffer. All the tributes would be after him, trying to kill him for what he had done. And at this thought, Matt's heart couldn't bear it any longer, it sent a shock wave through his body, making him shiver. This was the first time that Matt Smith was ever... scared.


	5. Chapter 5

The peacekeepers had managed to settle the crowd down and escort me to the tribute building where I was to live for a week, preparing for the games, just like every other year, except there were slight differences this year. Not to mention the fact that people from the capitol were involved. I was soon to know that this year, the mentors would choose their tributes and train them personally.

I was escorted out of my room by a couple of peacekeepers and taken into the Lobby of the building. All the mentors were lined up on one side of the room. Some of the other tributes had already lined up on the other side, I joined them, third in line, we were facing the mentors. I recognised all of them, Annie Cresta, Betee, Johanna Mason, Enobaria, Haymich Abernathy, Gale Hawthorn, and of course, Katniss and Peeta.

Once all the other tributes had arrived i took a long look at them i knew all of their faces, and their names were burnt into my mind.

Lily Snow (12)

Althea Wellwood (14, looks 16)

Zenobia Jardine (14 looks 11)

Fernelia Crane (18)

Jupiter Templesmith (16)

Terra Williford (15)

Savera Nairn (13)

Laurel Combe (15)

There were more, but thinking about them was too painful, knowing that I had been the one to send them here, to their fate.

President Paylor stepped in between the mentors and us tributes. She started speaking, talking about the rules of the games, each mentor would be in charge of 3 tributes, the mentors would teach their tributes what they needed to know to survive in the games. We were gathered here to be chosen by our mentor-to-be. I looked around at the mentors, I wondered who would choose me, I was hoping Betee would, so he could teach me how to set up techy traps and stuff like that.

I was deep in thought, thinking about how to create a coil of electric wire from scratch, using natural materials and all that, when Johnanna Mason stepped up to me and said

"Take off your shirt."

"What?" I asked stupidly, interrupted from my thoughts.

"You heard me. Take off your shirt!" Johanna demanded.

I did as she said, rather reluctantly...

"Hmph, muscular, lean, but what about reflexes?" she mumbled to herself. I had a small feeling of suspicion but I shrugged it off. All of a sudden I saw a fist flying towards my face. I ducked as fast as I could, and then Johanna's leg swept my feet under me causing me to trip and fall flat on my face. Enraged I got up.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" I shouted. then I aimed a punch to her face, it never hit. She saw it coming. She had grabbed my arm and twisted it.

"Hmm brave...stupid but brave. I want him." Johanna declared, she then walked straight out. Whether she had chosen another tribute or not I didn't know, but what I did know was that my one week of training was going to be hell. 'Huh...trapped in hell with a crazy lumberjack who's afraid of water. This will be interesting.' I thought


End file.
